29 November, 2005 (Tuesday)

In summary
Yes, I'm finally on the mountain, although our internet access hasn't been the best. Today is the first in a few days that it has been up (at least since I got up here on Sunday morning). I think that wireless suffers from the snow (it's snowing now, and it keeps on dropping out!). Yesterday was my first day of work for Big White, and today my first skiing. I think I'm going to sleep well tonight.

I'm now fully kitted out with ski gear. Today I finished off by spending a further $700 CAD for skis, bindings and poles – apparently they’ll last me the season. We can hope. Being in holiday mode expenditure has run higher than expected. Not looking forward to my next credit card statement.

If I can say one thing about Canada it is that the country’s banking rules are archaic. I currently have withdrawal limits of $200 CAD per day, and the closest bank ATM is an hour’s drive away in Kelowna. With the Australian dollar losing against North America I’m not keen on conducting all my major transactions from my Australian accounts. A budgeting conundrum to consider tomorrow.

Time has definitely sped up. I feel like I've been her a lot longer than 6 days. Unfortunately I haven’t met many REAL Canucks.. . but I'm hoping that will change sometime.

It has been snowing on and off all day - “Great champagne powder, eh?”. We can hope. There are only 2 chairlifts open right now, 4 groomed runs.

So what’s been happening?

Hmmm.. A lot I think. But where to begin?

November 26, 2005 (Saturday)
Flew one hour to Kelowna, the closest town to our resort. The view in flight was awe inspiring – Canada is a very beautiful country, with low hanging cloud and picturesque tree dotted mountains topped with snow.

Kelowna is located in the Okanagan valley, one of Canada’s prime produce / wine areas, and is known for it’s beautiful lakes. It is a bit of a crossroads town - an amazing amount of traffic passes through. During summer Kelowna booms as a tourist destination, tripling in size (to somewhere in the region of 300,000 people) with wakeboarding and other summer water events.

I spent the afternoon shopping at Orchard Park. It’s a huge shopping area with a mall and a few blocks of shops. Unfortunately for me it’s also quite spread out. After a lot of walking around the main mall block, I bought some ski gear (Oakley Wisdom goggles and a helmet) and other miscellaneous items. I’m also now cell phone enabled – I’ll email details through soon.

That evening I managed to meet up with Trish, a local Kelowna gal, who was kind enough to give me an evening tour of the hot places in town. We ate at this classy little chain restaurant called Moxies, and then hit a few of the bars. Tonics is like a Cheers-style sports bar, with a few flat screens showing Hockey (the national obsession). Nice vibe to it, although sitting next to the window was a little chilly (it was 2 degrees outside)! Docs is just a block away. It is a little grungier than Tonics and while the table service isn’t as good it still has a really nice laid-back feel to it. The Doc’s Coffee I had wasn’t half bad (frangelico and baileys).

No sleep that night. I was sharing in the Samesun backpackers with 4 other guys. . . 3 of whom were competing in a snoring medley. I probably should have just got up and stuffed their mouths.

November 27, 2005 (Sunday)
Got the 8:00am shuttle bus up to the Mountain. Met up with Jae, one of the guys who I’m sharing with, around 9:30am in front of our place. After dumping my things he took me for the Big White tour.

It was good to get a feel for the place - Jae seems to know half the people working on the mountain. Right now I’m struggling to remember 3 names! After 2 hours sleep had a few drinks indoors (my duty free Laphroaig, a 10 year aged single malt whiskey, drinks like water), then went to our local bar located across the road – Snowshoe Sam’s. The night wasn’t too busy, but for some reason I quick sculled a few drinks and then alcohol and sleep deprivation caught up, having me almost fell asleep on the table.

I wandered across the road back to the apartment and somehow thought I’d lost my passport, so I went back down to the bar and had half the patrons looking for it. . . Jae found the passport the next morning on a chair in our apartment. Oops. I’m still getting ribbed for it now.

November 28, 2005 (Monday)
Turned up at 9am for work a bit worse for wear. I’m on ticket sales for the season. The first hour was spent reading a staff manual while Steve, my boss, tried to work out why we couldn't process any credit card payments. He then gave me a quick debrief and set me loose to learn from Lesley (from NZ) and Zia (a native who has been with Big White for 7 years). The day went fast with on-the-job training. Apparently our peak period will be mid-December through to New Years, and Presidents Day week. Can't wait.

Crashed at home for a bit and then ended up back at the pub with Dave and drank beer (Granville Honey) until 1am with Cass and Owen (wedded Tasmanian couple) and Suze (from Scotland). It was Owen’s birthday. We’re going to eat chicken wings at the pub on Wednesday night.

November 29, 2005 (Tuesday)
My first day on the slopes. I spent the morning setting up skis with Lindsay, Dave’s boss and resident ski and board expert. In the end I settled on a pair of Head Monsters (163cm) which should compliment the Nordica X6 boots I got in Vancouver. The three hours on the mountain was great – I’d forgotten how good it feels to ski. It was snowing for most of the afternoon which meant next to no visibility – I had trouble seeing half a metre in front of me. My first half-dozen runs were more by feel as a result, as I took my new gear through the strides.

Mainly I skied Easy Street, a green run, which takes a good 20 minutes to get down. When it stopped snowing and visibility cleared I was able to put on a bit more speed and gun it a little more stably down the slopes – a few early tumbles but no out of control stacks. I’m aiming for a few of those on Thursday (my next day off).

Which takes me to now - I’ve just got through half a tin of soup and am thinking of seeing what Snowshoes has to offer. It’s just past 5:30pm here and people should be off work. Oh, did I mention it was -10 degrees today? Brrrrr...

25 November, 2005 (Friday)

24 November 2005 (Thursday)
My first real day in Vancouver. Spent most of the day exploring the downtown area, Robson St (shopping district) and Gastown. It was a relatively nice day, about 8 degrees, little to no wind. As mentioned before, the architecture and general feel of the city remind me of Melbourne.

Wandering around, I checked out the main department stores - Sears and Hudson Bay, as well as electronics (The Source, Future Shop) and a lot of souveneir places. Most of the merchandise isn't so different to Australia.. just bigger jackets with fur ruffs (wanted to get one, but they didn't have my size). Unfortunately no real purchases today, more browsing and getting an idea for price. A good portion of the afternoon was spent asking people for directions to the nearest CIBC branch. It took about 5 tries before I hit it (the woman at the information desk at the Library was dead wrong!).

Strangely, the city felt quiet to me on Thursday. Well, in comparison to Sydney. It might be because people tend to minimise their time on the street because of the colder weather, but even traffic noise and people didn't feel as bustling as at home. Which is kind of funny, because the Kiwis I've been hanging out with keep on talking about what a huge city Vancouver is, with it's 2 million people. I guess it's just a matter of different experience.

Ended up at the Beaver Bar, downstairs in the hostel, for dinner and drinks again. The local brew is very drinkable, although they apparently don't drink bourbon here - it's rye. What is stranger is that they pour rye out of the same tap nozzle as their coke and ginger ale. They call mixed drinks here High Balls, and I ended up guzzling a few doubles because the first few ryes just tasted sweet. Go figure.

Drank at the beaver until around 11ish, then somehow ended up a few doors down at The Roxy, an atmospheric live music place. The band was playing Nirvana covers and some other random bits and pieces so I danced with one of my new Kiwi friends at the front (thanks Jasmine!). Band finished around 1ish or so (I think), and by that time they weren't letting people into any of the other places on the Granville Street strip.

The night finished with some late night SubWay. Didn't even realise how late I slept in this morning!


25 November 2006 (Friday)
Today I managed to miss the promised 10:30am meetup to explore more of Vancouver with Caroline. Apparently Caroline did too. Instead, I slept in until around 11:00am and finally got myself together around mid-day. Spent the rest of the day walking the streets of Vancouver solo again, making a few purchases - ski boots, a new jacket, some souveneirs from the local tattoo parlour. I keep on running into Australian girls serving in the stores - they invariably ask if I'm from Australia... and with my grasp of the local accent still settling, I initially fail to register that they're accent hasn't got the Canadian growl.

Tomorrow I'll have to set the alarm to make sure that I don't miss my flight out to Kelowna.

Drink count: 9
RDB count (cumulative): 1

Different to Australia?
Drink sizes: My apple juice today was 473mLs, similarly my water was 591mLs. Must have something to do with converting between imperial and metric. My water is tainted with Rasberry taste.

Alcohol: Slightly different names and greater availability of cocktails. Highballs are mixed drinks. People drink Rye which is sweet.

Currency: They call their $1 coins loonies, and $2.. wait for it - toonies.

Traffic lights: There are no buttons on their pedestrian crossings, so you just have to wait until the lights change. No green man either, just a white neon pointing hand.

Cards: I was in a card store yesterday and they had half a wall dedicated to coming out cards "I'm so happy that you're happy". Guess it's fashionable?

Tipping: Expectation of 10-15% tip on any service. Thank you minimum wage. Strangely customer service isn't that terrific.

Unstated tax: Local GST isn't stated on any goods. You pay at the counter and suddenly the bill increases by a good amount. Surprise!

Flying up North for the Winter

Overview
Yes, I've finally arrived!!!!

The last 30 hours has given me my fill of international flights. Air Canada out of Sydney was aborted somewhere over Brisbane. QANTAS took me as far as LA. Air Canada picked up the ball again and deposited me in Vancouver some 10 hours after my designated time. While I was hoping to gain a day, all I've gained is a night. So hear me winge... well, before this hostel computer decides that my loonie (Canadian dollar) has been eaten.

AC34 (Sydney - Honolulu - Vancouver)
Air Canada Flight 34 was supposed to take me from Sydney at 0930 and (supposedly) deposit me in Vancouver at 0725 the same day. Unfortunately somewhere over Brisbane the Captain decided that the strange noise coming from the Right First Class area was reason enough to retreat back to Sydney. 4 hours after flight time I found myself queuing up for a new boarding pass, the idea of breakfast just a distant memory (Air Canada were kind enough to provide us with a glass of water, but not much else). The other 100 of my fellow passengers trailed a long line out of the Sydney Departure area.

QF11 (Sydney - Los Angeles)
Qantas picked up the ball where Air Canada left off. We left Sydney an hour and a half delayed because of our aborted Air Canada flight, the original Qantas passengers weren't impressed.

The flight itself was quite pleasant with quality service and near to gourmet food. Neil Perry Mustard gets my vote! Sleeping in Economy with jet level air conditioning however leaves a bit to be desired. Even with headphones in it was a struggle. Added to that, the best movies on offer were The Dukes of Hazard and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. You had to be in First or Business class to qualify for real entertainment, like Sin City or Little Britten. Suffice to say that I disembarked from the flight with blood shot eyes and skin the texture of sand paper. Random piece of trivia: Yes, I moisturise to keep my boyish goodlooks.

LAX is not the friendliest place. Although security was less than expected. I didn't even get body searched!

AC553 (LAX - Vancouver)
Air Canada were kind enough to delay their 1350 flight from LAX for the 100 refuges from their original Sydney - Honolulu - Vancouver flight. Nevertheless, we were still required to trek across LAX to the Air Canada ticket office to be re-issued. The less than illuminating "It's in building 2 which is 7-minutes walk off to the left" meant that stragglers were still finding their way to ticketing a half hour later. New boarding passes are apparently still a manual process.

Which of course meant that the flight was delayed approximately an hour and a half to allow us to board. The original Air Canada passengers were less than impressed. Lunch was acceptable, with a good French White (Chardonnay - Sauvignon) on offer. It was a bit of a surprise to see that the menu came with accompanying prices. Apparently with Air Canada if you aren't delayed then you usually have to pay $5CAD for your sandwich. I guess Virgin has taken a page out of their book?

Arrived in Vancouver at 1650. Apparently it's been foggy here the last few days, although with a top of 15 degrees today it has burnt off. The clouds are low lying, and the city itself is quite pretty. It still has that older North American feel to it, and I think it may take a while to get used to cars driving on the opposite side of the road, but right now it feels like quite a friendly city.

So now...
Right now I'm settling into the Vancouver SameSun backpacker lodge. It's a popular snow cultist gathering place, with youths from all over the globe sitting at the Beaver bar (sic) and enjoying the Granville Pale Ale. Internet access is a modest $1 a half hour (10 minutes so far). Dorms are split over 3 levels and fit in 170 people - Womens, Mixed and Mens. Tonight we're near capacity.

I've met a few New Zealanders who are headed to Banff in the next few days, so we wandered night Vancouver (Granville St) a little (it reminds me of Melbourne, strangely enough!) before finding dinner back at the Hostel.

Quick profiles:
Chris (24), tall and sporty, is from Christchurch. He's a keen snow person and is looking to link up with friends.
Caroline (20), trim and cute, is currently studying Medicine at Otago university where she's just completed her 3rd year. She's planning to spend a good 2-months on the mountain but currently lacks employment. A common theme from the people I've met so far.

Tomorrow - plan to get my Social Insurance Number (SIN) which will allow me to collect pay. Also need to set up a bank account locally and do some shopping. Granville & Robson Streets here I come!

Before I fly

Just a first update on my movements and happenings - travelling to Canada (and beyond).

A flight
I'm due to fly out first thing tomorrow morning (Flight C34 Air Canada @0925), so wish me luck for customs! It's a 14 hour flight to Vancouver, with a refuelling stop in Honolulu. Somehow or other we beat the sun and I'll actually be arriving a few hours before I leave. I think that's really going to mess with my head.

Then where?
I've got 3 days in Vancouver to establish myself and what not. From there I'm flying to Kelowna in British Columbia on Saturday. It's a summer town of around 100,000. The area is best known for it's produce and wine. Staying there overnight, then onto the mountain on Sunday (http://www.bigwhite.com).

The guys i'm staying with seem pretty cool.
* Jae and Josh are working night shift and skiing by day (some people have all the luck!). They're friends from TPG doing some kind of IT-type server maintenance.
* Dave is doing ski repair. He's a mechanic by trade
and likes a beer.
We've got an apartment in the heart of the ski village. Apparently it's very comfy and they're looking forward to me turning up to pay rent. Nice to be wanted!

Looking forward to seeing the snow. Not so sure how I'm going to cope with the cold.

Running out of time

1 day to D-day
I can't believe how fast time is passing. It feels like only the other day when I was tendered my resignation. It was just one of those strange moments - one of those times which has been building up for a while and you just know you have to do, but when you get there.. well...

It was a Monday morning, I'd booked it in the calendar the week before. Originally I was just going to sit down and tender it formally in my boss' office, but he suggested that we head down to our local coffee shop and have a chat over a cup. We’d just sat down (off to the side, glass to our right, my back to the main entrance) and I looked him in the eye and just blurted "I'm not sure how to say this - but I’m leaving". Not really that dramatic I guess, but I don't think I gave any real indications before that.

It wasn't an easy thing to do, trying to balance not being relegated to the departure lounge and giving proper notice. I think I did the right thing, and all in all I think my decision was taken pretty well – I just can’t believe that I've survived another 5-weeks of work since. Then again, those last 5-weeks was a pretty tough time for the whole team with potential changes in the wind.

Fits of nostalgia
So now I’m sitting in front of the old desktop computer back in the parental home. I’ve been back since Sunday. The eucalypts are blowing in the wind out the window - I’d forgotten how much I like the view here. It’s just me and the hum of the computer fan. Although my things are as good as packed and I’ve got last minute shopping booked in for this afternoon, reality still has yet to kick in. I just hope I can sleep tonight.

The past weeks in review
What’s been keeping me busy?
Work farewell – also happened to be my birthday that week (Nov 7 – 12)

• Tuesday was Kathy and my farewell luncheon. We went to a little Italian pizzeria called Bar Reggio on Crown Street. Shared pizzas worked out to be $12 a head. Neil was kind enough to provide wine for all. Everybody shared the bill.
• Kristin’s charity event @ Pyrmont later that night. Dr Feelgood (10-piece funk band featuring our Nicky!) featured. Stopped for kebabs on Cleveland later that night (thanks for driving Luke!) and then somehow we ended up spinning bottles in the loungeroom. Glad there weren’t any cameras around!
• Thursday had a quiet drink at the Burdekin for general work people. Had a crowd of 6. Special thanks to Anmarie & Kate, Mona, Goran, Lauren and Sarah, Khoi & Oskar for showing. Also thanks for Greg for giving me a call and wishing me the best. It was a nice quiet night. I’ll remember to send out proper calendar invites next time if I want company!
• Friday night my last day at work. Received a Krispy Kreme, card and certificate!
• Saturday was a quiet birthday day and night - in studying and trying not to panic.
  

Law exams and catching people (Nov 13 – 19)

• Sunday I was persuaded out for ‘a birthday drink’ in Newtown @ the Marly bar with Alo & Suze in the afternoon. By 10am I’d had several birthday drinks and was ready to get some shut eye – three cheers for Absinthe cocktails!
• Monday was a study study study day. Minimal hangover.
  
• Tuesday was my Law of Tort exam. Worst exam I’ve sat in my life. I’ve never freaked like that before, and hope it never happens again. Keep you posted.
  
• Wednesday was my catch-up and coffee day with friends. Saw Sach, Dave, Wendy, Amy, Josh and Brendan. It was a nice day. Glad I caught so many people!
• Thursday was moving preparation day. Drinks @ the Statement with Nick & Carli, Em & Tam and (of course!) Alo. Alo and I tried for dinner at Woolloomooloo but being a school night they’d closed all the kitchens by 10. We lucked out in Stanley Street. Chicken for me. Risotto for Al.
• Friday was meet Sal (Minnie and little Benji) & the work gang for coffee in the city. Visit work (yes K, I popped in to work – shame on me!). Then Mark came around and we spent the afternoon moving. Two ute trips later we’d got most of the major items. Then it was off to Miranda (late – sorry Eric, Dave & Jacqui. Me bad!) for a movie – The Corpse Bride. Bizarre movie. Sylavnia Maccas debrief. Yawning by 11pm...
• Saturday more last minute shopping for friends and then dinner at Leichhardt in the Italian Forum with Brendan, Em and Josh. It was a great night, we had a bit of wine with dinner (Seafood platters aren’t bad at all), then up to Bar Italia for coffee. Ran into Christine VT and chatted at her for a good quarter hour, before her family grabbed her. Back to mine for a port and nostalgic reflection. Going to miss those Thursday night dinners with you guys. Miss them a lot.
  
• Sunday my day of home rest. Taking the last of my pieces home. Packing the suitcase. Hassling my brother's girlfriend! The local gang took me out for a drink and Thai. It was a fun night. All 12 of us packed in this cute restaurant wreaking merry havoc. Then off to Beverly Hills for late Sunday gelato and a few more laughs. Tiramisu was great. Thanks guys!
  
• Monday was last errands day… Managed to make it to Aiki (after 3 weeks of neglect.. feel that technique escape me!) then onto Leichhardt for a final goodbye meal - thanks for the card and present Kristin. Both were awesome. Tam visited. Took me 2.5 hours to get home. Buses weren't running by 11:40 and the walk home from the station took 1 hour. They're still twingey!
  
• Which brings me to today – frittering away my early afternoon on here. Shame on me! Better get into some of that last minute organisation!
  

It's 6 weeks on and I feel like I've just blinked and I'm here. No accounting for time. Glad I don't have to fill in personal time sheets.

Starting a new chapter

Hello fellow travellers and welcome to "Ski on me" - my travel blog.

This blog is just another one of those self-indulgent quarter-life crisis fuelled attempts at documenting people, places and experiences during my time travelling. Hopefully it will evolve to be more than just a blow-by-blow description of my daily tasks and triumphs, although if you’re looking for hard analysis and heartfelt musing I suggest that you might be better off looking elsewhere! Or... not?

I’m going to Canada… No, really!
Destination: Big White, British Columbia, Canada
Winter vocation: Lift ticket sales
Date of commencement: Monday November 28 @9:00am
Why am I smiling? I’ll be skiing again!

In a few days I will be in Canada. First stop Vancouver, then the British Columbia snow fields. I have a job and accommodation waiting for me there. Although right now this knowledge is accompanied by a feeling of disconnected unreality. I know I’m going. I know I’m going soon. Yet, I don’t think I’ll actually believe it until I’m on the plane in mid-flight… I wonder what they’ll feed me for morning tea?

Trip in planning
Visa? Check.Passport? Check.Tickets? Check.Luggage? Check.Checklist? Check.
Now what could I possibly have left behind?

This trip has been some time in the making. It has it’s genesis in the first quarter of 2005 when I started considering priorities and options. While I enjoyed wearing a suit the past few years, I felt it was past time to break out of my comfort zone and explore. To this end I started investigating places and set the wheels in motion. 8-months later and my plans are coming to fruition. I have my visa and passport ready. The plane tickets are at hand. I have a job and place to sleep already locked in. It’s now just a matter of making sure I’m at the right place the right time. Can’t mess that up, right?

What's in a name?
The name "Ski on me" came from a conversation I had at worko on my last day. It's a bit of dodgy play on words, following on from some comments about Canadian wildlife - how I should be wary of grizzly bears and moose, and watch out for beaver. Once the laughter had died down I was asked what I'd be doing and I suggested that, working in the ski ticket office, people could 'ski-on-me' if they turned up (an unlikely event). Somehow it got mis-interpreted and started another round of laughter... a few nudges and one or two sly winks.

… And now I sit
So now I’m sitting here early on a Sunday morning .The last month has disappeared from under me with work, study, social obligations and friendly catch-ups. It’s been hard to adjust to the thought that I won’t be seeing my friends and family for an extended period, although I keep on promising to stay in touch via calling cards, cell phone SMS, email and this blog. Hopefully I’ll get my act together and send through a few stray postcards. I owe people quite a few!